MINERS GO 16-8 IN CH4/ FALL 9 GAMES BEHIND COWTIPPERS

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CH4 MVP: MOOKIE BETTS 333/433/705


The Miners went 16-8 in Chapter 4 but the Salem Cowtippers went 20-4 to drop Joplin 9 games out of first place.  Nevertheless, the Miners hold the lead for the first wildcard spot 12 games ahead of the next wildcard contender.

Mookie Betts ( 333/433/705) continued to make his case for Ozzie League MVP.  In addition to his hitting, Betts continues to make outstanding defensive plays and went 5/6 in steal attempts in chapter 4.  Freddie Freeman (289/372/505) and Yan Gomes ( 342/372/562) forced teams to pitch to Betts.

 

The starting rotation earned its pay in Chapter 4:

Chris Sale ( 1-2-4-2.38-36/10)
Charlie Morton ( 1-1-0-1.90-27/11)
Hyun-Jin Ryu ( 2-2-0-2.34-34/12)
Masa Tanaka ( 3-0-0-2.38- 16/9)

The most interesting stat was the fact Sale earned 4 saves basically because Craig Kimbrel needed some rest.  In fact , Kimbrel only has 24 innings left to pitch over the final 56 games.   The rest of the bullpen did pick up the slack, posting a 2.45 ERA over 18 innings.   Joplin needs the following pitchers to due better than they did in Ch4:

Danny Duffy (1-1-0-5.27- 23/9)
Jamie Garcia ( 12.86 ERA in 7 IP)

The Miners had the following series results in CH4:

Akron 2-2
KCB   4-0
LVF  4-0
SLF  3-1
LAU  0-4
Flag  3-1

The LAU sweep and the split with Akron does not bode well for the Miners in the playoffs.   Joplin fans hope the recent additions of  pitchers like Ryu and Gio Gonzalez ,catcher Yan Gomes and utility players like Tyler Saladino and Erik Gonzalez can help the Miners make it back to the World Series.   Assuming Joplin hosts the wildcard playoff,  management must make a strategic decision on whether to start Sale or Ryu.  Sale can pitch 12 innings in each 7 game series while Ryu can only go 6.  So, do you go with your ace to make sure you make it to the playoffs or do you go with Ryu so Sale can maximize his innings ?  Sources indicate Ryu may start in the wildcard game.
However,  the Miners need to play well in the last 2 chapters before those decisions need to be made.   


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